Claiken

Ok, so i decided today that I wanted to start up a fun experiment. running the KFC Bitty Kitty against the regular Compu Kitty.

My question comes in with regards to the actual screen/pixels themselves. Why are some pixels darker than others? I tried one pair, and then another pair of brand new batteries. I dont understand what is happening. I have pictures though.

(these photos are clickable)

This is the only aspect where it does look normal.

But this is fresh batteries, so this aspect should be too dark to see clearly.

It would be one thing if i were using up old batteries, but these are brand new out of the package... dont expire until 2015.

Im afraid to try to go inside the unit as besides cleaning dirt i dont know what im doing, and one of the screws inside looks to be stripped already. also because theres plastic over 2 of the screws i would need to undo to get inside.

Also just to note, i dont store my pets with batteries in them. no explosions or anything.

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Moussette

Mhhh.. I don't have giga pets except for the star wars ones. They don't do that. But my nano puppy does ! it's very old and it has been used alot .

On my nano i realised that the screen looked much better when i opened it all up and cleaned the pads between the screen and the printed circuit. After all those years it corroded.

I had a problem with a Tamagotchi Angel once. They were lines of pixels that looked dead, but if i gently pressed the screen under my fingers, it looked that the dead pixels came back to life. So i opened it up and i tightened the screws inside.

I don't think that in your case, your giga pets has dead pixels, they are just some darker than others. I personnaly think that the pads needs cleaning but... If the screws are already stripped, i'm afraid it's not a good idea to open it up. You don't want to ruin it.

SailorRosette

I have done myself the favor of never opening my gigas past the battery door. However, not all my tamas were so lucky. Its possible they were opened or some battery acid got to the circut. (resulting in a need for cleaning/scraping it off) that usually fixes the visual issue. (unless its my odd green tama with even stranger pixel issues)

Use also can have some effect. I used my Compu Kitty way more then my 101 Dalimation version and you can tell a bit...

Claiken

Would the inside layer you were saying (those pads), can that happen even though ive never taken it apart before? I am also making the effort not to tinker with/take apart my pets, but if i can make it work that much more...

like, its tolerable for now, but if it gets even worse, i will hardly be able to see it. but then, should i let it get worse??

SailorRosette

I guess it could... But age can play a major part too. I would try to tighten the inside if anything if its only lighter pixels. Usually that can fix a display issue. These gigas being transparent, you could see battery acid in most cases. Its your call to open it futher.

Moussette

I guess it could... But age can play a major part too. I would try to tighten the inside if anything if its only lighter pixels. Usually that can fix a display issue. These gigas being transparent, you could see battery acid in most cases. Its your call to open it futher.

Totally agree with this. Try to tighten it up at first, and if it doesn't work , try to open it up, but only if you're sure of what you're doing.

And yes corrosion on the pads can happen even if you never opened it up. Its natural corrosion caused by humidity in the air for exemple.

If you are going to open it up just tell me, i'll try to show you those pads i'm talking about on my Nano. I'm really not sure if it works the same way on a giga pet. I just don't know , but i could show you pictures of my nano if it can help you

Claiken

Being honest Nanos and original (p1, p2) tamagotchis are the only ones ive taken apart before all the way. when i was much younger and careless (aka why i dont still have those exact units lol).

Like, I recently modded my Nano Baby, because i knew what the inside was like, i knew i could get around in there with relative knowledge/comfort. still was being incredibly careful in the process though... but the gigas have those wires, which i would be scared of accidently ripping out. i know they can be soddered (sp?) back on... but ive never used a soddering iron before in my life lol.

ETA: I just tried this now, i just pushed gently on the screen, VERY gently... when i do that, the pixels within the "wave" of pressure do get darker for that quick second. not sure if that helps determine anything or not.

Claiken

So, I got brave last night and when tightening the screws didnt help, i decided to take it apart.

No visible dirt. So then I thought Hmmmm.... I will use my bit critter less than my kitty, so i tried swapping screens, and just held it the board together with the contacts/screen. For some reason, it was a scrambled mess. I tried just replacing one screw to hold it in the proper place, and holding the rest, still scrambled. the bit critter has actual icons and the kitty has the arrows with the icons right on the background. at first i thought maybe i accidently put hte screen in upside down, so i double checked it, it was right. but, the scrambled mess was much darker pixels than the screen that belongs to it, that shows the proper image. so, i have at least narrowed it down to the screen itself. just not sure what else to try. Luckily i was at least able to get it back to what it was before. so no better, but no damage either. didnt accidently yank any sound wires.

I was running short on time and didnt think to try the kittys screen with the bit critter pet just to see if that one was scrambled too. hmm...

SailorRosette

You used the square part of the screen with the display rubbers in your other giga? Humm. Being scrambles could be one screen was upside down or had something touching where it shouldn't.?

I would look closely at the original screen rubber things for things on them. Then check where the "blobs" meet up with the paths. Check the greenish paths for discoloration among everywhere else. The discoloration will be whitish or maybe a greenish yellow, but not the glue if you have one with that inside. Remove those by rubbing gently with an eraser, q-tip, cotton swab or even a piece of small paper can get some stuff off. (either wrapped in a tube or flat, tubed is better for the paper technique)

Under the rubber of the buttons can be multiple colors... I would pick out everything that is discolored if you haven't already.

If adding pressure helps your screen be darker. The tightening of the screws helps, of corse. I have time to time needed to add extra pressure on other pets to get the screen darker or to keep the batteries tighter/more snug. (batteries comming loose sometimes is an issue) I use art foam or squishy foam (depending on size/or needed pressure). Placing the art foam or squishy foam inside with the batteries screwed in tighly. Just be aware of thickness of what you put inside with them. Start thick and cut down if you use squishy foam.

Claiken

I actually didnt find adding more pressure to really help at all. i was hoping it would, but it didnt. But, i didnt actually end up trying my kitties screen inside of the bit critter, so i cant say if that would have worked. but i did check twice to make sure that the screen i did try was right side up, double checked the placement of the screen rubber things, gently erased the contacts for the screen and the buttons. im wondering now if the bit critter screen would have worked if it was upside down, since it didnt work right side up! not that that would make things better, but would have been interesting for sure!.

One thing i did notice was that my kittys screen has the tinyest chip off the corner of the screen wheere the rubber things are placed. but, it was like that when i got in there. still doesnt explain why the display is only worse now, instead of when i first got it until now.

last time i ran it, the pixels i did notice were kind of dimmer, but they were all uniform, about the colour of the darkest pixel i get now. But, i just thought that was how that particular screen was made. didnt think much of it since it was all uniform.